Rethinking, Not Reinventing The Wheel

I'm finding our content this week to be both educational and amusing. I'm still in the freshness of being a returning student so getting used to the jargon of textbook language is a daunting task for me. I guess I'm too used to discussing technology with 2nd graders and reading their work. However, after reading Chapter 1 several times, I'm making the adjustment and am finding myself falling back into student/learner mode.

In many ways, Chapter 1 reinforced some of the things I am already doing in class. Since teaching technology is not in my background and the curriculum at my school, in the past, had treated computer class as a non-graded, educational extra-curricular, I have spent much time browsing the Internet for curriculum ideas, often borrowing from others. Many of these lessons are geared toward a much older crowd, however, so I have spent a lot of time adjusting the process to satisfy my product, to use the language of Chapter 1. Interestingly enough, I often find I don't need to make radical changes or reinvent the wheel; I just need to tweek here and there and allow enough time and support for my younger students. What has amazed me is that, although I have certainly made the mistake of "setting the bar" too high, in terms of content (i.e., the time I had 2nd graders visit websites to answer questions on an animal; their reading level made it impossible to even visit the most kid-friendly sites), there have been several instances where I just assumed they wouldn't be able to handle a software application, only to discover that they had very little trouble. Thus, my challenge has been to figure out what software will really work for them. Hence, I'm looking forward to our unit on software assessment.

On the other hand, Chapter 1 also clearly highlights my follies, particularly when accomodating my product. My employment and educational background focussed on teaching english to Grades 9-12, as opposed to computer tech to K-6. For the most part, their needs were often addressed with tutors and counselors, and, therefore, there was little to do on my part. Thus, I know I have students with various needs, but I have to be honest in admitting that the content of my lessons don't always address those individual needs and that sometimes I simply demand too much of them. The adjustments I have made have really had more to do with the physical environment of my lab and not necessarily the content. For example, I used to demand that any student working on the computer in my lab must follow the recommended guidelines on keyboarding posture: sit with both feet on the floor; face the computer; arms relaxed at the side. No exceptions. As the year progressed and I watched many of my students grow restless, I quickly realized that the posture requirements were too many and not suited for little kids. Yes, as an adult whose feet can actually touch the ground when sitting and whose back demands that she sit up straight, I can understand how the principles apply; however, for a bunch of squirrly first graders who have no spine and whose feet dangle willy-nilly, sitting still for 45 minutes was just short of torturing them. In hindsight, I guess that I was realizing that many students weren't able to utilize the technology effectively because I had made the environment too stifling. Now, if needed, I allow students to freely stand or walk around the library if they feel they need a break or are becoming too restless. In the long run, I find that their focus is much better. As I continue to analyze my product, I know now that I need to continue to strive to meet the needs of the individuals so that they can make the best use of my class time and equipment.